Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

Apologies, both for interrupting your holiday and for the length of this email. Naturally, if I had more time I would have written a shorter letter. I am writing to appeal for an aegrotat in HIST 201, HIST 218 and HIST 241 and a late drop of HIST 208 and HIST 315.

Essentially, in my first year at Queen's I suffered from severe back and neck pain, and collapsed on multiple occasions, consequently being taken to hospital a shocking number of times. The summer of 2014 I was then the subject of an intensive review in London, turning up a prior injury in a ski accident when I was 13 to have actually fractured my neck in two places, leading to severe and permanent damage to my nervous system and leaving me with chronic pain. This is an issue that I have dealt with over the past 12 months, including with a minor procedure last summer, and have substantially improved upon.

Unfortunately in the Fall semester of this year, I was further diagnosed as having been suffering for years with schizophrenia, a misdiagnosis very recently changed to something more akin to PTSD. This was an on going struggle the entire year, especially with the initial misdiagnosis and a massive degree of medicating for a teenager, and the deaths of two close family members. I have since made major headway in dealing with the issue, and will have come to a position by the commencement of the new academic year where I am mentally stable and, by and large, free from mental illness.

Naturally, to make things slightly more difficult, I was involved in two minor accidents at the end of the winter semester, which have fairly seriously damaged my legs. On the 11th June I had a several hour operation on my left knee, which was successful, and for which I will hopefully fully recover over the next year. I also face the progressively higher possibility of another operation on my right ankle, which could not be performed on at the same time for obvious reasons. I am currently on crutches and major painkillers, and will in all likelihood not be walking for several months, but it is a mechanical problem that can, hopefully, be fully overcome.

To be blunt, my academic standing is appalling. My family have phenomenally high standards; my uncle was accepted to Yale at the age of 15, my mother was one of the first American students to study in Beijing, my brother is hoping to be the youngest Briton to ever climb Everest next year, and so on. I had a major knee operation aged 16, and ever since I have failed to live up their expectations and, more importantly, to my potential. This has in part been due to apathy and indifference, my difficulties making it easy to put academic work on the back foot, but an element of one mindedness in my approach to tackling one problem at a time has certainly affected my and lifestyle. This is no longer an issue. I will conclude any mental issues over the summer and push myself to be in a position where my physical recovery and exercise are not a hindrance to me in the future, and I intend to dedicate myself to my work over the coming years. Throughout the last year I have been in constant contact with Mary Acreman in Queen's Counselling, Lee Fisher-Goodchild in Disability Services, and, briefly with Mike Condra in Counselling and Haley Everson in Academic Advising; all of whom can vouch on my behalf and confirm anything that I have said. Mary and Lee in particular have offered to do so. Also, if necessary, I am happy to supply any specific documentation that may be required. I have a lot of ground to make up, and a lot to prove, but every difficulty I have faced, I have dealt with in a dedicated, passionate, and intelligent manner; a manner that I will bring to my studies.

Yours faithfully,

Cameron Russell